HI 
Ml! 


.    I 


CD 


ESSAGE   AND 
ELODY  *  j*  & 


Richard  Burton's  Books 


Message  and  Melody 

$/.oo,  net 

Literary  Likings 

A  Book  of  Essays      $1.50 

Memorial  Day 

$7.00 

Lyrics  of  Brotherhood 

J/.oo 

Dumb  in  June 


Lothrop  Publishing  Company 
Boston 


ESSAGE     AND 


A  Book  of  Verse 


RICHARD    BURTON 


LOTHROP     PUBLISHING 
COMPANY,    #     BOSTON 


COPYRIGHT,  1903, 
BY  LOTHROP 
PUBLISHING 
COMPANY. 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 
PUBLISHED  MAR. ,1903 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Song  of  the  Unsuccessful H 

The  Old  Santa  Fe  Trail J5 

The  Soul  to  the  Body J7 

Conquerors J9 

Sidney  Lanier 23 

To  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 24 

A  Ballad  of  Kinsmen 27 

The  Claim  of  Kindred 3J 

Strength  in  Weakness 34 

The  Morning  Summons 35 

The  City  of  Laish 37 

Vision 4J 

In  Time  of  War 44 

The  Background  Group    •    .    • 48 

Exit  Nightingale 5J 

Coronado 55 

The  Procession 60 

When  the  Dream  comes  True 64 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Poems  of  Music 67 

An  Old  Song 69 

Second  Fiddle 72 

Street  Music  •    •    • 75 

In  a  Theatre 77 

At  the  Symphony 8J 

Violin  and  Viol* 83 

A  Waltz  Thought 84 

A  Catch 86 

A  Pianist 87 

Dove  Notes 88 

Sea  Moods 89 

Sea  Rhapsody 90 

A  Marsh  Message 94 

Lullabies 97 

At  First 99 

At  Last J02 

Slipper  Time ,  .- J06 

Nature  Pieces J09 

The  Song  of  the  Open \\\ 

Autumn  Corn JJ3 

Quail  and  Thrush H4 

Early  Winter U5 


CONTENTS 


The  Fall  of  the  Leaves U6 

Autumn  Song JJ8 

The  Hills  of  Home JJ9 

The  Pine  Tfce J20 

The  Valley \2\ 

The  Bugler  from  the  Peaks J24 

FaU  Fields J25 

Nature's  Book J26 

Indian  Summer J27 

The  Broken  Pfomise J28 

On  the  Death  of  a  Mother J30 

Before  a  Shrine J32 

The  Deserted  School J34 

The  World  Asleep J37 

The  Unforgotten J39 

"Vords,  Words,  Vords" J4J 

A  Forecast J42 

Sound  in  Silence J44 

Penelope's  Lover J45 

Wall  Street J46 

Peace  out  of  Pain J48 

Don't  Dream,  but  Do  1 J49 

A  Ryme  for  Christmas J52 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Pain J54 

City  Streets J55 

Memorials J57 

The  Homing  Bird     .  .. J59 

Then •    •    •  .•    .....    .    .    .  J60 

Creed  and  Deed J6J 

The  Unspoken     .  .,  ..  > .,.    .    .    .......  J62 

Prayer  Tidei >  .    ,    .    .    .    .  163 

Sanctuary J65 

Revery .  J67 

The  Young  Man's  Prayer J69 

To  a  Child  Crying J70 

Symbols J7J 

Memories J72 

The  Reformer J73 

Hymn  for  a  Town J75 

Our  City  of  Aerial  Light J79 

Play-room  Poems J8J 

Snow  and  Rain J83 

The  Wind-Broom J85 

Star  Ships J86 


ESSAGE   AND 
ELODY  *  *  j* 


SONG  OF  THE  UNSUCCESSFUL 

E  are  the  toilers  from  whom  God  barred 

The  gifts  that  are  good  to  hold. 
We  meant  full  well  and  we  tried  full 
hard, 
And  our  failures  were  manifold. 


And  we  are  the  clan  of  those  whose  kin 
Were  a  millstone  dragging  them  down. 

Yea,  we  had  to  sweat  for  our  brother's  sin, 
And  lose  the  victor's  crown* 


ii 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


The  seeming-able,  who  all  but  scored, 
Ffom  their  teeming:  tribe  we  come: 

What  was  there  wrong  with  us,  O  Lord, 
That  our  lives  were  dark  and  dumb  ? 

The  men  ten-talented,  who  still 
Strangely  missed  of  the  goal, 

Of  them  we  are :  it  seems  Thy  will 
To  harrow  some  in  soul. 

We  are  the  sinners,  too,  whose  lust 
Conquered  the  higher  claims ; 

We  sat  us  prone  in  the  common  dust, 
And  played  at  the  devil's  games. 


12 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


We  are  the  hard-luck  folk,  who  strove 

Zealously,  but  in  vain : 
"We  lost  and  lost,  while  our  comrades  throve, 

And  still  we  lost  again. 

We  are  the  doubles  of  those  whose  way 
Was  festal  with  fruits  and  flowers; 

Body  and  brain  we  were  sound  as  they, 
But  the  prizes  were  not  ours. 

A  mighty  army  our  full  ranks  make, 
We  shake  the  graves  as  we  go ; 

The  sudden  stroke  and  the  slow  heartbreak, 
They  both  have  brought  us  low. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


And  while  we  are  laying  life's  sword  aside, 

Spent  and  dishonored  and  sad, 
Our  epitaph  this,  when  once  we  have  died : 

"The  weak  lie  here,  and  the  bad," 

We  wonder  if  this  can  be  really  the  close, 
Life's  fever  cooled  by  death's  trance ; 

And  we  cry,  though  it  seem  to  our  dearest  of 

foes, 
"God,  give  us  another  chance!" 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


THE  OLD  SANTA  FE  TRAIL 


T  wound  through  strange  scarred  hills, 
down  canyons  lone 

Where  wild  things  screamed,  with  winds 
for  company ; 

Its  milestones  were  the  bones  of  pioneers* 
Bronzed,  haggard  men,  often  with  thirst  a-moan, 
Lashed  on  their  beasts  of  burden  toward  the  sea : 
An  epic  quest  it  was  of  elder  years, 
For  fabled  gardens  or  for  good,  red  gold 
The  trail  men  strove  in  iron  days  of  old* 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


To-day  the  steam-god  thunders  through  the  vast, 
While  dominant  Saxons  from  the  hurtling  trains 
Smile  at  the  aliens,  Mexic,  Indian, 
Who  offer  wares,  keen-colored,  like  their  past : 
Dread  dramas  of  immitigable  plains 
Rebuke  the  softness  of  the  modern  man ; 
No  menace,  now,  the  desert's  mood  of  sand ; 
Still  westward  lies  a  green  and  golden  land* 

For  at  the  magic  touch  of  water,  blooms 
The  wilderness,  and  where  of  yore  the  yoke 
Tortured  the  toilers  into  dateless  tombs, 
Lo !  brightsome  fruits  to  feed  a  mighty  folk* 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


THE  SOUL  TO  THE  BODY 


LD  mate,  who  long  hast  friended  me 
Through  many  a  shift  of  rain  and  sun, 
Now  that  the  journey's  well-nigh  done, 


The  wear  and  tear  of  Time,  I  see, 
Threatens  a  breach  'twixt  me  and  thee. 

For  I  am  strong,  as  ne'er  before, 
While  thou  art  waxen  spent,  and  weak; 
The  touch  of  tears  is  on  thy  cheek, 
Thy  gait  is  limp,  thy  locks  are  hoar, 
The  latch  is  broken  at  thy  door. 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


Yet  burns  full  bright  my  lamp  within  j 
When  it  is  quenched,  what  wilt  thou  do  ? 
Dear  comrade  of  the  dusk  and  dew, 
Thou  fellow-wrestler  against  sin 
In  conflicts  that  God  helped  us  win. 

To  say  good-bye,  I  cannot  bear ; 
By  all  the  bonds  of  brotherhood, 
If  I  encounter  any  good 
Whither  I  go,  'tis  thine  to  share, — 
Boon  friends  together,  Here  or  There! 

So,  till  our  parting  shall  take  place, 
I  hold  this  sacred  hope  the  while, 
To  light  my  sorrow  with  a  smile : 
That,  when  I  soar  and  sing  in  space, 
I  may  behold  thee  face  to  face ! 


18 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


CONQUERORS 

LL  times  and  climes  may  claim 

you, 

O  conquerors,  mystic  ones : 
How  may  my  poor  tongue  name  you, 
Dreamers  'neath  many  suns  ? 

Makers  of  stately  story, 

Shapers  of  wood  and  stone ; 
Painters  of  colored  glory, 

Lovers  of  rhythmic  tone ; 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Weavers  of  fabrics  wondrous, 

To  last  through  the  changeful  years ; 
Mages  of  harmonies  thundrous, 

Masters  of  mirth  and  tears ; 

Moulders  of  various  beauty 
To  challenge  all  time,  and  rest 

Secure  in  a  sense  of  Duty 
Done  at  an  Art's  behest ; 

Soldiers,  who  stood  in  battle 
Rocks  in  a  righteous  cause ; 

Statesmen,  who  shook  the  rabble 
Awake  to  the  better  laws ; 


20 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Men  of  inventing  vision 

Who  grapple  with  clod  or  cloud, 
Till  earth  take  a  gleam  elysian 

And  matter  must  speak  aloud ; 

Pleaders  for  stricken  masses, 
Men  of  the  speech  that  sings ; 

Prophets,  whose  light  overpasses 
The  thicket  of  sensate  things, — 

All  climes  and  times  may  claim  you, 
But  one  is  your  dream,  your  star : 

Brothers-in-arms  we  name  you, 
Builders  of  Good  ye  are* 


21 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


O  conquerors,  courage,  aspire, 
Dream  on,  while  ye  kiss  the  rod ; 

One  in  your  great  desire, 
And  one  in  the  thought  of  God. 


22 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


SIDNEY  LANER 

Fof  a  memorial  meeting;  ten  years  after  the  poet's  death 

HE  mirk  hangs  mute  around  a  tomb* 
O  mildew  blight  that  follows  bloom ! 
O  sad  cessation  of  a  song: 
Flute-sweet  and  like  a  trumpet  strong ! 

What  do  I  say  ?    The  dark's  ashine 
With  soul-light  that  is  surely  thine* 
What  do  I  say  ?    The  silence  breaks 
In  music  that  thy  spirit  makes. 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


TO  ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 

EAR  ghost, —  whose  ruddy  presence  needs 

most  fling 

A   ray  of    cheer    among    thy    brother 
shades 

In  yon  pale  land  of  Sleep, —  thy  legacy 
The  years  make  richer. 

For  the  fellowship 

Of  gallant  souls  who  move  down  stirring  ways 
Of  blithe  adventure ;  for  the  moods  of  dream 
That  blossomed,  at  the  conjuring  call  of  Art, 
Into  Life's  festal  flowers  of  Romance ; 


24 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


For  lyric  interludes  of  Song,  whose  sound 
Comes  in  pathetic  cadences  ;  for  words 
Apt,  rare,  and  full  of  wisdom,  touching  deeps 
On  deeps  of  human  passion :  for  such  gifts 
Surely  the  guerdon  is  love's  long  renown* 

But  most,  O  Comrade  ours,  we  owe  to  thee 

For  that  brave  gospel  thou  didst  ever  bring  — 

Not  pulpit-wise,  but  sweet  as  speech  of  birds : 

Courage  and  kindliness  and  joy-of-life 

Even  in  its  motley  and  keen-edged  with  pain ; 

High  spirit  against  evil,  and  the  laugh 

Unbitter ;  and  that  indomitable  belief 

In  brotherhood*    'Twould  shame  us,  looking  on 

Thy  struggle  and  thy  triumph,  should  we  play 

The  craven ;  yea,  thy  present  happy  peace 

Heartens  all  laggards* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Therefore  seems  it  meet 
To  hail  thee  hero,  fondly  to  recall 
Thy  valiant  days,  thy  victory  over  doom, — 
Child  of  delight  and  heir  of  loveliness, 
Great  friend,  whose  followers  would  fain  be  true* 


26 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


A  BALLAD  OF   KINSMEN 

PIA  BAY  wears  a  smooth,  bright  face 

When  the  tropic  winds  are  low, 
But  the  harbor  curve  is  a  fearsome  place 
When  the  great  winds  rise  and  blow. 

'Tis  perilous  for  barks  to  ride 

At  anchor,  when  the  surge 
Comes  thundering  in  from  the  sea  outside 

And  foams  on  the  rocky  verge* 


27 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


From  the  Western  States  three  ships  were  there, 

And  one  from  the  English  Isle; 
They  came  when  the  skies  were  bland  and  fair, 

And  the  ocean  ways  a-smile. 

But  the  fierce  storms  smote  them,  till  they  tossed 

Like  chips,  'twixt  sea  and  sky ; 
And  two  of  the  ships  of  the  States  were  lost, 

And  the  other  drifted  nigh 

The  coral  reefs,  to  death ;  but  saw 

The  sturdy  English  ship 
Out  from  the  harbor's  seething  maw 

Toward  open  water  slip. 


28 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


And  sore  they  yearned  to  follow  her 

Beyond  the  barrier  foam, 
To  swap  their  coral  sepulchre 

For  the  sea-leagues  leading  home ; 

But  the  ill-starred  Trenton  could  not  sail 
Nor  steam ;  with  beams  aburst, 

A  helpless  hulk  before  the  gale, 
She  staggered  toward  the  Worst* 

Yet,  as  the  English,  inch  by  inch, 
Away  from  the  shallows  drew, 

The  boys  of  the  States,  they  did  not  flinch, 
For  they  cheered  the  other  crew. 


29 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Yea,  never  a  soul  showed  craven  then, 
Though  their  fate  was  plain  to  see ; 

The  doomed  men  waved  to  the  luckier  men 
And  gave  them  three  times  three* 

Three  times  three,  and  the  cheer  rang  high 
Above  the  wind  and  the  wave, 

As  the  English  ship  strained  safely  by, 
And  the  other  on  to  her  grave ! 

Oh,  blood  will  tell,  they  were  kinsmen  all ! 

Give  the  gallant  lads  a  place 
On  the  good  high-seats  of  the  heroes'  hall 

To  kindle  our  common  race ! 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


THE  CLAIM  OF  KINDRED 

AM  not  one,  but   many:    murmuring: 

through 

My  blood  I  seem  to  hear  a  blended  cry, 
Ancestral-strong,  bidding:  me  up  and  do 
A  million  deeds  before  I  come  to  die* 

Some  of  the  voices  call  like  org:an  tones 
Upon  my  soul  for  service  that  is  meet ; 

Others  unman  me  with  melodious  moans 
Or  evil  invitations  perilous-sweet* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Some  tell  of  high  endeavor  on  the  seas, 
Some,  bugle-clear,  declare  that  war  is  best ; 

Some  lull  me  to  a  dream  of  summer  case 
In  far-away,  fair  places  where  is  rest* 

Betwixt  high  heaven  and  hell  the  ample  air 
Thrills  with  their  pleadings,  vibrates  to  their 
breath; 

Deep  in  my  heart  I  feel  their  vast  despair, 

Their  every  hope,  their  game  of  life  and  death* 

It  is  as  though  a  countless  company 

Drew  a  great  circle  round  me,  and  did  press 

Their  myriad  claims  nor  would  not  let  me  be 
Until  unto  them  all  I  answered,  Yes. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


I  am  not  one,  but  many :  all  the  past 

Houses  within  my  breast  and  summons  me ; 

And  only  God  shall  speak  the  word  at  last 
To  quell  the  storm  and  give  the  mastery, 

Since  thus,  despite  my  cherished  pride  of  will, 
The  passions  of  my  kindred  clasp  me  still ! 


33 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


STRENGTH  IN  WEAKNESS 

JOT  in  the  morning  vigor,  Lord,  am  I 
Most  sure  of  Thee,  but  when  the  day 

goes  by 

To  evening  and,  all  spent  with  work,  my  head 
Is  bowed,  my  limbs  are  laid  upon  my  bed. 
Lo  I  in  my  weariness  is  faith  at  length, 
Even  as  children's  weakness  is  their  strength. 


34 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


THE  MORNING  SUMMONS 

'HEN  the  mist  is  on  the  river,  and  the 

haze  is  on  the  hills, 

And  the  promise  of  the  springtime  all 
the  ample  heaven  fills ; 
When  the  shy  things  in  the  wood-haunts,  and 

the  hardy  on  the  plains, 

Catch  up  heart  and  feel  a  leaping:  life  through 
winter-sluggish  veins; 


35 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Then  the  summons  of  the  morning  like  a  bugle 
moves  the  blood, 

Then  the  soul  of  man  grows  larger  like  a  flower 
from  the  bud ; 

For  the  hope  of  high  Endeavor  is  a  cordial  half 
divine, 

And  the  banner  cry  of  Onward!  calls  the  lag 
gards  into  line* 

There  is  glamour  of  the  moonlight  when  the 
stars  rain  peace  below, 

But  the  stir  and  smell  of  morning  is  a  better 
thing  to  know ; 

While  the  night  is  hushed  and  holden  and  trans 
pierced  by  dreamy  song, 

Lo !  the  dawn  brings  dew  and  fire  and  the  rap 
ture  of  the  strong* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


THE  CITY  OF  LAISH 

"  Then  the  five  men  departed  and  came  to  Laish  and  saw 
the  people  that  were  therein,  how  they  dwelt  careless, . . . 
quiet,  and  secure,  and  had  no  business  with  any  men." 

k.VE  you  read  of  the  Orient  people  of 

Laish  in  the  olden  time, 
In  the  days  when  to  battle  was   good 
and  to  kill  was  held  no  crime  ? 
How  they  dwelt  at  quiet,  and  had  nor  business 

nor  bicker  with  man, 

Until  they  were  smote  by  the  sword  in  the  grip 
of  the  chieftains  of  Dan  ? 


37 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


The  people  of  Dan  came  down  and  smote  with 

the  edge  of  the  sword 
And  builded  a  city  therein,  being  led  thereto  of 

the  Lord ; 
And  the  name  of  the  city  was  changed  from 

Laish,  as  they  called  it  of  yore, 
To  Dan  of  the  Danites,  who  came  and  conquered 

her  people  in  war. 

Since  so  it  is  written,  we  honor  the  host  that  the 

victors  became, 
And   righteously  vanquished    the    foemen  and 

wreathed  their  towers  in  flame ; 
Like  a  fiat  of  flame  they  descended,  for  so  they 

were  guided  of  God, 
And  so  was  the  future  unfolded  by  sweeps  of  His 

terrible  rod. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


And  yet  in  my  heart  there  must  harbor  a  feeling 

of  pity  and  pain 
Because  of  the  people  so  peaceful,  who  never 

might  mingle  again 
In  streets  of  their  love  and  their  childhood,  in 

Laish,  their  home-city,  that  lay 
As  far  from  the  worries  of  worldlings,  as  night 

time  is  far  from  the  day* 

And  it  seems  that  the  glory  of  battle,  the  gory 
red  signs  of  the  same, 

Are  pitiful-poor  when  we  set  them  beside  the 
lost  calm  of  that  name 

All  dwellers  in  cities  must  mention  whenso  they 
would  speak  of  a  spot 

Where  men  were  at  quiet  and  peaceful,  and  mur 
mur  of  war  there  was  not* 


39 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Will  some  day  that  is  hope  of  the  dreamer,  some 

place  never  chanted  in  song, 
Show  peace  in  its  borders  unbroken,  where  men 

are  both  gentle  and  strong  ? 
Shall  the  lamb  e'er  be  couched  with  the  lion? 

Men  ask  it  and  look  to  the  sky ; 
Christ  came  and  his  presence  declared  it,  so  the 

dream  may  not  utterly  die* 


40 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


VISION 

Y  the  boom  of  a  bright,  great  sea, 

Once,  under  a  tropic  sky, 
In  a  scented  night  that  was  all  alight 
With  stars  a-throb  on  high, 
Unsealed  were  the  eyes  of  me : 


For  the  earth  beneath  my  tread 
Shrank,  and  was  like  a  smoke, 

And  the  mighty  deep  and  the  skyey  steep, 
To  their  vasty  truth  I  woke, 
All  the  majesty  overhead. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


With  the  universe  I  whirled, 

Of  its  length  and  breadth  aware, 

Man's  petty  hates  and  his  passing  fates 
Seemed  less  than  empty  air 
In  the  light  of  the  larger  world* 

I  looked,  as  a  living  soul, 

Into  the  eyes  of  God, 
And  I  understood  both  bad  and  good 

In  the  scourging  of  His  rod, 

And  saw  the  ultimate  goal* 

Across  abysms  flung 

I  heard  the  ocean's  speech 

And  the  pulsing  stars  explained  the  scars 
They  suffered,  each  from  each, 
When  the  universe  was  young* 


42 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Oh,  the  splendid  sense  of  space ! 

And  the  selfhood  vanished  quite 
In  a  shoreless  sphere  where  da/  and  year, 

Morning  and  noon  and  night 

Are  one  before  God's  face ! 

Wrapt  in  that  vision  wide, 

I  seemed  to  briefly  know 
God's  ancient  plan  for  the  weal  of  man ; 

Under  Time's  ebb  and  flow, 

Eternity's  sure  tide* 


43 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


IN  TIME  OF  WAR 

OW  who  shall  read  the  writing 
That  is  writ  upon  the  wall  ? 
Shall  the  peoples  cease  from  fight 
ing? 
Shall  the  good  days  come  at  all  ? 

For  the  proud  of  earth  do  levy 
Gold,  that  battles  may  be  won, 

And  a  burden  direful  heavy 
Bends  the  father  and  the  son* 


44 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


Though  our  own  inviolate  borders 
Widen  out  a  myriad  miles, 

We  are  hailed  as  dread  marauders 
In  the  ultimate  far  isles. 

Though  in  Europe's  mood  of  kindness 
Peace  is  mooted  for  a  day, 

Lo !  there  comes  a  mood  of  blindness, 
And  red  ravin  has  its  way. 

Yet  the  earth's  stern  law  is  spoken 

In  the  march  of  centuries, 
That  the  weak  for  good  are  broken, 

That  the  strong  must  rule  the  seas* 


45 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


We  may  conquer  in  all  gladness 
If  the  cause  be  pure  and  high; 

We  can  bear  the  passing  sadness 
For  the  blessing  by  and  by. 

When,  to  spread  the  benefactions 
Of  the  world,  the  sword  is  swung, 

We  may  glimpse  through  storm-wrapt 

factions 
God's  own  lights  in  heaven  hung. 

Where,  to  lift  a  land's  downtrodden, 
Bullets  sing  and  cannons  boom, 

There,  though  battle-fields  be  sodden, 
Shall  God's  flowers  freshly  Woom, 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


When  the  broad  earth's  blinded  races 
Strive  but  for  some  heavenly  stake, 

And  the  higher  life  replaces 

The  brief  hell  that  weapons  make ; 

Then,  with  sound  of  exaltations 
Shall  the  better  times  begin, 

Then,  ye  captains  of  the  nations, 
Shall  the  Prince  of  Peace  come  in* 


47 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


THE  BACKGROUND  GROUP 

HE  crowd  huzzas,  the  music  madly  plays ; 
'Tis  meet,  for,  lo  !  it  is  the  day  of  days. 

The  home-returning  heroes  come:   a 
cry 

Of  welcome  should  be  lifted  to  the  sky 
And  flowers  strew  the  people-trampled  ways* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


The  drums  beat  martially ;  with  rhythmic  beat 
The  steps  resound  along  the  gaping;  street* 

Hark,  what  acclaims !    And  how  the  folk  do 

press 

To  see,  to  touch,  maybe,  the  very  dress 
Of  those  who  dared  the  death,  when  Life  is 
sweet! 

But  stay !  where  joy  is  general,  where  the  sound 
Of  jubilant  voices  rends  the  air  around, 
Why  is  yon  group  so  silent  in  its  place, 
With  war's  impassioned  image  face  to  face  ? 
Wherefore  those  eyes  cast  nunlike  on  the  ground  ? 


49 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Who  are  these  hangers-back,  these  dark-robed 
ones? 

They  are  the  mothers  who  are  reft  of  sons ; 
The  wives  whose  dearest  lie  all  uncaressed 
Afar,  with  vital  stains  on  brow  or  breast ; 

The  children  orphaned  at  the  mouths  of  guns* 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


EXIT  NIGHTINGALE 

(Anton  Nachtigall,  aged  34,  a  shop  foreman,  shot  himself 
dead  yesterday.  He  was  sick  and  discouraged*—  Morning 
Newspaper.) 

•HASTLY  contrast,  God's  grim  joke ! 

Here's  a  man  who,  on  a  morn, 
Very  weary,  hopeless,  spoke : 
"I  am  out  of  work,  and  scorn, 
Want  and  ugliness  are  mine*" 
So  this  creature,  made  divine 
(So  they  tell  us)  simply  shot 
His  weak  brains  out  —  there's  your  plot ! 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


Nothing  in  it,  say  you  ?    Stale  ? 
True,  'tis  but  a  common  tale, 
But  the  story  gives  me  pause 
For  a  moment's  space,  because 
This  poor  breaker  of  God's  laws 
Bore  the  name  of  —  Nightingale ! 

Somewhere  in  the  years  behind, 
When  men's  names  were  first  assumed  — 
Tinker  Tom  or  John  the  Smith, 
Handier  to  travel  with  — 
Somebody  was  this  assigned : 
Nightingale*  .  *  *  Belike  there  bloomed 
On  his  cheek  the  badge  of  health 
And  he  had,  instead  of  wealth, 
Music  for  his  gift,  could  sing, 
Play  the  fiddle,  lead  the  folk 
Down  the  jolly  dancing-ring; 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Make  them  thus  forget  their  yoke, 
In  some  village  •  *  *  long  ago. 
Merry  lad,  who  far  and  wide 
Up  and  down  the  countryside 
Piped  before  the  people  so ! 
Thus,  the  name  bespoke  the  man* 

Latterly  there  came  a  change 

In  this  very  pretty  plan 

And  a  name  meant  naught  at  all. 

Taylors  sat  within  the  Hall, 

Kings  in  hovels  —  passing  strange ! 

Time's  inexorable  jest 

Mocked  the  high  and  blurred  the  best* 

So  with  Nightingale, —  he  fell 

From  his  pristine  grove  and  —  well. 

Found  himself  in  songless  hell. 


53 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


Heigho,  how  the  world  is  run ! 
Morn  of  glory,  night  of  shame, 
Worms  that  crawl  from  out  a  bud. 
Every  day  'twixt  sun  and  sun 
Some  poor  devil's  singing  name 
Is  wiped  out  in  city  mud. 


54 


MESSAGE   AND  MELODY 


CORONADO 

N  the  beach  at  Coronado  curves  the  shore 

in  crescent  wise, 

And  the  blue  of  sky  and  water  merge 
divinely  to  the  eyes; 
Dim,  fair  islands  lift  like  phantoms  from  the  bright 

Pacific  floor, 

And  the  breakers  fall  but  blandly  where  the  sea 
gulls  dip  and  soar. 


55 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


There  a  spell  of  scented  languor  seems  to  still  the 

pulse  of  pain, 
And  perpetual  springtide  hovers  over  land  and 

slumbrous  main, 
There  the  blooms  are  lush  and  brilliant,  there 

some  great  ship,  wearing  west, 
Seems  to  pause  as  loath  at  leaving  all  a  haven 

holds  of  rest. 

And  the  idler,  lapped  in  pleasance,  charmed  to 

dreams  by  sound  and  sight, 
As  he  watches  dawn  or  sunset  or  the  sweeping 

stars  of  night, 
Lets    his    mind   go    groping    backward    to  the 

strenuous  pioneers, 
"When  the  red-gold  fever  took  them  in  the  far, 

untranquil  years ; 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


To  the  Spaniards  with  their  visions  —  quick  to 
fancy  were  they  then  — 

Of  some  vast  and  hoarded  treasures;  Coronado 
and  his  men ; 

To  the  splendid  quests  and  tumults,  to  the  tor 
ments  and  defeats, 

To  the  rovers  by  the  rivers  and  the  pirates  in 
their  fleets. 

But  so  fleckless  are  the  heavens,  and  such  peace 

is  found  below, 
In  the  sea-companioned  gardens  where  the  great 

blooms  wax  and  blow, 
Such  a  slow  and  sweet  siesta  bring  the  magical 

warm  noons, 
That  all  anguishes  and    ardors  are  unreal  as 

ancient  runes* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


So  it  is  —  until  a  storm-wind  rolls  the  billows  up 

the  coast, 
And  the  night  is  thick  with  portents,  and   the 

keen  air's  clamoring  host 
Fills  the  vault  —  ah,  then   returning,  trooping 

back  refreshed  and  strong, 
Come  the  old-time,  lost  marauders,  ruling  men 

with  sword  and  song* 

And  they  cry  with  clangorous  voices  when  they 

sight  a  timid  sail, 
And  their  drinking-bouts    are  mighty    as   the 

hours  to  dawn  go  pale ; 
Royally  do  they  foregather  and  their  Presences 

resume 
All  the  potency  of  living,  as  they  revel  in  the 

gloom* 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


But  with  day,  behold  the  languor  and  the  beauty 

all  restored, 
Once  again  the  waters  gentle,  once  again  divine 

accord 
'Twixt  the  earth  and  swooning  heavens,  while 

the  sand  in  crescent  wise 
Curves  to  meet  the  benediction  of  the  Californian 

skies. 


59 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


THE  PROCESSION 

let  our  womankind  tend  hearth 
and  house, 

Obey  and  love,  receive,  in  turn,  due  love 
Of  husbands,  brothers,  sons  who  battle  for 
Their  wants  and  welfare  in  the  outer  ways, 
And  so  fulfil  the  Law.    This  sums  the  whole*" 

Thus  spake  Sir  Oracle.    Meanwhile,  meseemed 
Through  mists  of  time  I  saw  in  rich  array 
Pass  by  a  white  procession,  one  by  one : 


60 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


The  swart-browed  queen  whose  Eastern  Sov 
ereignty 

Was  large,  but  larger  yet  her  passionate  sway 
Over  two  men  who  made  the  Western  world, 
Caesar  and  Antony,  both  at  her  feet* 
And  then,  bright  Helen,  Menelaus'  wife, 
And  Paris'  leman  in  a  golden  day ; 
So  fair  that  poets  e'er  since  have  joyed  to  sing 
Her  loveliness,  which  claimed  its  hecatombs 
Of  victims,  Greeks  and  Trojans  battailous. 
Next,  Magdalen,  whose  penitence  is  famed 
And  precious,  and  the  Mary  men  revere, 
Walking  in  sisterwise,  with  equal  mien, 
Save  that  the  Mother's  brow  was  full-content, 
The  Maiden's  wistful.    Then  proud  Joan  of  Arc, 


61 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


A  peasant  yet  a  princess,  with  a  light 
Fanatic  yet  divine  within  her  eyes ; 
A  martyr's  eyes  that  look  through  flames  to  God ! 
The  while  the  lips  say :  u  Patience,  'tis  for  France." 
And  Sappho,  fillet-bound  about  the  head, 
Chanting  swift  lyric  lays  beside  the  sea 
Aegean  blue, —  lays  soft  yet  strong  withal, 
Since  still  we  hear,  albeit  brokenly. 
Hypatia,  too,  whose  spirit  was  not  quenched 
By  mob-defiance  nor  untimely  death, 
Strode  gravely  sweet  and  calm ;  and  Portia,  she 
That  donned  a  mannish  habit  for  the  nonce 
And  plead  with  angel-tongue  for  Mercy's  place 
Along  with  formal  justice.    Shyly  there 
Came  Sister  Dorothea,  half  a  Saint 


62 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Yet  all  a  woman,  binding  wounds  and  sores ; 
Her  passing  was  a  breath  from  the  Command : 
"Unto  the  least  of  these  my  brethren."— 

These,  yea,  and  many  more  filed  by,  until 
The  mist  grew  mythic  and  they  faded  out 
Into  the  common  light  of  day :  anon, 
Again  I  heard  the  little,  piping  voice 
Make  deposition  as  to  woman's  worth. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


WHEN  THE  DREAM  COMES  TRUE 


SHALL  see  far  plainer  than  I  do 
Here  and  now,  when  what  I  dream  is 

come: 
They  that  love  me  not,  my  slips  shall  rue, 

Those  I  love  not,  deeming  dull  and  dumb, 
I  shall  wake  to  find  full  fellowsome, 
When  my  dream  comes  true. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Lightest  words  that  worked  for  me  and  you 
Barriers  that  clomb  to  mountain  heights ; 

Little  deeds  that  into  great  wrongs  grew, 
All  for  lack  of  flashing  heaven-lights, 

Shall  be  smoothed  and  shapened  all  to  rights, 
When  my  dream  comes  true* 

It  may  even  be  the  love  I  woo 

Blindly  now,  my  vision  choked  with  tears, 
Then  shall  understand  me,  know  how  true 

Was  the  heart  struck  voiceless  through  its  fears ; 
Ah !  a  moment  shall  make  sweet  the  years, 

When  my  dream  comes  true ! 


POEMS  OF  MUSIC 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


I 

AN  OLD  SONG 

HERE'S  a  ballad  of  quaint  love-longing 

That  often  I  yearn  to  hear, 
For  it  sets  the  memories  thronging 
And  wakens  a  by-gone  year* 


The  words  were  but  simple  and  pretty, 

With  a  tender  final  fall, 
Yet  I  swear  that  this  old-time  ditty 

Still  holds  my  heart  in  thrall. 


69 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


It  was  sung  by  a  gir  1  whose  fashion 
Can  never  grow  stale  nor  old; 

But  she  and  her  young  soul's  passion 
Lie  quiet  in  graveyard  mould* 

It  was  not  the  music,  I  fancy, 
Nor  the  story  —  but  just  the  way 

She  sang,  and  the  necromancy 
Wrought  by  a  dear,  dead  day. 

At  times  they  will  play  it  to  me 
Now  —  but  my  heart  sinks  low ; 

It  isn't  the  same  that  drew  me 
There  in  the  long  ago* 


MESSAGE   AND  MELODY 


I  miss  the  meaning;  'tis  broken  — 

The  spell  of  singer  and  song ; 
I  sigh  for  a  vanished  token. 

For  a  magic  of  yore  I  long ; 

For  the  place  where  the  voice  would  waver 
And  a  sob  rise  up  in  the  throat, 

For  the  little  pathetic  quaver 
That  wasn't  on  any  note! 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


IL 
SECOND  FIDDLE 

UST  behind  the  first  fiddle  he  bends 

To  his  bow,  as  a  slave  to  the  rod  ; 
All  his  soul  to  the  music  he  lends, 
All  his  eyes  to  the  leader,  his  god. 


His  skill  is  not  blaring,  but  sure ; 

Mark  his  bowing,  the  rhythmic  accord 
Of  his  motions,  the  sound,  crystal-pure, 

That  he  lures  from  the  violin's  board* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


The  crowd  never  look  at  his  face ; 

He  is  one  of  the  sixty  who  try 
With  wood-wind  or  brass  to  displace 

The  world  by  a  dream  from  the  sky. 

Not  his,  like  the  master  of  strings, 
To  step  forth  superbly  alone 

And  play  a  Cremona  that  sings 
With  heavenliest  tone  upon  tone. 

No  soloist  he,  but  a  part 

In  the  mighty  ensemble  that  soars 
In  the  regions  divine  of  an  art 

Where  man  but  aspires  and  adores. 


73 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


His  joy  is  the  gladness  of  those 
Who  feel  they  are  helping  the  whole; 

Less  fluent  the  harmony  flows 
If  an  instrument  flag,  if  a  soul 

Unfaithful  should  be  to  the  beat 
Of  the  baton  that  bids  him  be  true ; 

And  the  music  is  ofttimes  so  sweet, 
Small  matter  what  makes  it,  or  who* 

And  haply  —  who  knows  ?  —  in  the  day 
When  the  ultimate  piece  is  rehearsed, 

Shall  come  his  Great  Moment  to  play, 
And  the  fiddle  called  second,  be  first. 


74 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


HI. 
STREET  MUSIC 

how  the  dance-tune  trips  it  through  the 

street, 

Making  steps  rhythmic,  blood  the  lustier 
beat! 

Throwing  a  thought  of  love  and  holiday 
Into  the  midst  of  Trade's  most  prosy  way. 


75 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Look  yonder :  it  is  but  an  aged  crone 
Crouched  in  a  corner,  wrinkled  and  alone, 
Half-dazed,  who  feebly  grinds  an  organ  small, 
Craving  scant  pence  and  sun  —  and  that  is  all* 

As  soon  I'd  think  to  hear  a  gargoyle  sing, 
A  death-mask  speak  a  lyric  word  of  spring, 
As  yonder  hag  fill  all  the  drowsy  air 
With  music  making  Life  alert  and  fair. 

#**:*#  # 

Yet  hark,  again  the  strain,  the  waltz-tune  glad, 
The  sudden  rapture,  the  abandon  mad, 
From  a  bleared  woman,  sick  and  old  and  sad ! 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


IV, 
IN  A  THEATRE 

^IDDLE-SOUNDS  in  a  foul,  pent  place; 
Seams  of  sin  on  every  face 


Uplooking  there  from  the  seats  below, 
Foul-mouthed  men  and  a  shameless  show. 


A  young  girl  stepping  upon  the  stage; 
The  singing  of  songs  is  half  her  wage, 


77 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Selling  her  soul  the  other  half ; 

They  greet  her  now  with  a  jeering  laugh* 

A  face  that  somehow  hints  of  good, 
Though  stamped  with  all  of  the  demonhood 

That  comes  to  souls  that  God  made  white 
Given  over  to  shame  and  night* 

And  lo !  she  sings*    The  song  that  broke 
Her  lips  had  naught  of  jibe  or  joke. 

Twas  "Annie  Laurie/'  and  her  face 
Lost,  the  while,  its  old  disgrace, 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


Her  voice  grew  soft  and  sweet  and  cleat; 
She  sang  as  though  the  words  were  dear. 

Till  the  angel  woke  in  every  man, 
And  memories  stirred  as  memories  can 

Though  seeming  dead  for  long,  wrong  years ; 
Memories  stirred  and  so  did  tears* 

The  reeking  air  turned  meadow-sweet, 
And  daisies  danced  beneath  their  feet, 

While  each  man  walked  with  his  love  or  bride 
In  the  morning-break  on  the  mountain-side* 


79 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


She  ceased*    No  sound  of  plaudits  came 

From  the  foul-mouthed  men  in  the  place  of  shame* 

But  one  man  sobbed  and  the  rest  were  still ; 
And  the  God  above  had  worked  his  will* 


80 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


V. 

AT  THE  SYMPHONY 

SIT  and  listen  and  love  it  all, 

Here  by  the  orchestra. 
The  violins,  how  they  plead  and  call, 
Taking  the  voice  of  her ! 

The  brasses  brave  have  a  martial  tone, 

The  cymbals  clash  in  strife : 
The  grave  bassoons  half  muse,  half  moan, 

Chanting  the  deeps  of  life* 


81 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


The  'cellos  brood  and  the  flutes  rise  clear 

In  a  cry  that  soars  and  sings; 
The  rippling  harps  ensnare  mine  ear 

"With  a  vibrant  rush  of  wings* 

O  sweet  with  words  no  lips  may  dare, 

This  speech  of  the  orchestra! 
And  yet  —  that  burst  from  the  wood- wind  there 

Was  it  weal  or  woe  of  her? 


82 


MESSAGE   AND    MELODY 


VI 
VIOLIN  AND  VIOLA 

T  times,  when,  with  an  anguish  all  too 

keen, 

The  violin  doth  tensely  tell  of  grief, 
Tugging  at  heart-strings  till  the  tale,  I  ween, 

Is  over-cruel,  calls  for  some  relief : 
I  joy  to  hear,  like  cooings  of  lost  doves, 
The  grave  viola  plaining  of  old  loves* 


MESSAGE   AND  MELODY 


VIL 
A  WALTZ  THOUGHT 

(To  Eduard  Strauss) 

[HEN  a  man's  prime  passion,  for  years 

on  years, 

Is  giving  birth  to  bright  waltz  airs, 
That  are  quick  with  life  and  love  that  cheers, 
And  sweet  as  the  bloom  that  the  springtide 
wears ; 

fTis  a  fancy  sad  and  strange  withal, 

To  dream  he  must  lie  in  a  tomb  some  day 

And  hear  no  longer  the  soft  clear  call 
Of  music,  once  that  he  heard  alway. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


For  I  almost  deem  he  would  keep  awake, 
And  list  to  the  song  of  the  mountain  stream, 

Would  hark  to  the  sound  that  the  treetops  make, 
Or  the  voice  that  follows  the  lightning's  gleam ; 

Would  seize  all  melodies  Nature  knows, 
To  fit  the  passion  that  haunts  him  still, 

Till  out  of  them  all  a  wild  strain  grows 
Graced  and  fashioned  to  suit  his  will ; 

Would  down  in  his  grave  our  pulses  stir,— 
Fancy  him  there  in  the  chilly  vaults, 

Singing  e'en  in  his  sepulchre, 

Subtly  shaping  his  witching  waltz ! 


MESSAGE    AND    MELODY 


vm. 

A  CATCH 

LONG  comes  Love 
In  the  semblance  of  a  boy, 
And  he  rings  a  little  bell, 

And  he  sings  a  little  song : 

Lo,  the  change  thereof! 

Heaven  after  hell, 

Beauty  healing  wrong, 

And  grief  turned  joy  ! 


86 


MESSAGE   AND    MELODY 


IX. 
A  PIANIST 


S  Uotmy  fr  ?*****  went  down 
«YS, 

Making  a  ttrawh  wild  of  fcttowy  sotmd ; 
Fear  roused  he  head,  dark  Passion  too  was  there, 
Twin  mighty  presences  that  shook  the  air. 

But  sw«t  the  rtsoltrtion:  wind-swept  seas 
Sank  magically,  and  up  from  Life's  jiiuinMJ 
Stok  shining  Peace  tint  spread  from  shore  to 

shrrc. 
Till  heaven  seemed  nigh  and  Love  was  evermore. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


X. 
DOVE  NOTES 

HE  soft,  strange  note  of  the  doves,  to 

what  may  we  liken  the  sound, 
As  they  flutter  high  at  the  eaves  or  flock 

for  food  to  the  ground  ? 
Their  murmurings  shy,  remote,  like  a  lost  year's 

memory  seem, 

Like  melody  heard  under  water,  or  music  dimmed 
by  a  dream* 


88 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


SEA  MOODS 

HERE  is  music  free  in  the  waves  of  the 

sea, 

Rejoicing  by  all  his  coasts: 
But  the  salt  thereof  is  his  agony 

O'er  the  wrecks  and  the  buried  hosts* 


89 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


SEA  RHAPSODY 


L 


Y"  day,  the  tremble  of  the  boat, 
As    the  engine    throbs    like    a    human 

heart ; 

The  tang  of  the  untainted  air,  salt,  free, 
Roaming  long  leagues  of  brine ; 
The  tidal  lift  and  the  slow  swing,  now  the  craft 

buries  her  nose  in  the  billows ; 
The  sky  of  central  blue,  tapering  down  to  misty 

opal  at  the  sea  line, 

And  all  around,  the  unsteady  sapphire  of  the 
ocean* 


90 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


IL 

At  night,  snug  in  the  cabin,  cheerful  with  lamps, 
With  food  and  drink  and  the  talk  of  cronies ; 
Hard  by,  the  friendly  lights  of  the  ships ; 
Far  above,  aloof,  the  homeless  flicker  of  stars 
In  their  high,  impenetrable  places. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


IIL 

Then,  sleep,  midst  the  rock  of  the  waves, 

To  dream  of  dear  ones  distant  on  land, 

With  a  sense  of  lesion  from  all  the  ways  of  earth, 

A  return  to  savage,  sane  realities : 

The  tameless  revels  of  strange,  marine  creatures ; 

The  hoarse  voices  of  winds  and  waters, 

The  hidden  treasures  of  the  deep, 

Wide-scattered,  inestimable,   not  to  be 

named* 

The  face  of  tan,  the  boy's  heart, 
The  lost  yet  inextinguishable  gust  of  youth,  ex 
ultant  once  more* 


92 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


IV. 

Old  Earth,  the  mother,  sends  forth  her  sons 
To  adventure  with  the  ancient,  hoar,  gammer 

sea; 

Ever  hereafter,  as  they  come  back  and  walk 
The  dusty,  fevered  streets,  and  bargain  in  the 

marts, 

And  sicken  with  heat  and  the  sight  of  men, 
Will  they  carry  at  heart  a  cool,  quieting  thought, 
And  yearn  betimes  for  the  ocean's  open  roads, 
For  the  rigors  and  raptures  of  the  sailor  life, 
The  footless  trail,  the  horizon's  lovely  lure,  the 

sting  and  lull 

Of  elemental  water  wastes, 
Restless,  that  yet  bring  rest. 


93 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


A  MARSH  MESSAGE 

In  Memoriam :  Olivia  Susan  Clemens 

HE  melancholy  marshes  brood 
In  all  their  rich  monotony : 
Beyond  them,  in  a  twilight  mood, 
The  more  than  melancholy  sea, 

A  seemly  spot  for  news  of  death : 
The  message  comes,  with  tidal  pain ; 

The  ancient  f aring-forth  of  breath, 
The  young  laid  low,  the  lovely  slain. 


94 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Her  life  was  one  that,  river-sweet, 
O'er  sunny  uplands  ran, —  but  then 

Inexorably  plunged  to  meet 
The  under  waves  that  wait  for  men, 

The  lethal  waters,  salt  and  still, 
Wherever  mystery  bides ;  the  Vast 

Whose  voice  is  mystic,  and  whose  will 
Is  stronger  than  our  will  at  last* 

*    :     *        *        *        • 

The  marsh  is  troubled  in  its  dream 
By  a  faint,  tremulous  stir  of  air : 

Is  it  the  passing  of  the  stream, 
The  young  fresh  soul  that  was  so  fair  ? 


95 


LULLABIES 


MESSAGE   AND  MELODY 


I. 

AT  FIRST 

ABY,  the  legends  say 

Angels  are  here, 
Keeping  all  harm  away 

That  would  come  near. 
There  is  a  warmer  thing 

Guarding  thee,  babyling, 
Than  any  angel- wing: 
It  is  my  love  so  deep ; 
Then  sleep,  child,  sleep. 


99 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Baby,  I  cannot  tell 

How  strangely  fair 

Are  tower  and  citadel 
That  glisten  there 

In  the  sleep-country  wide ; 
Wonders  on  every  side 
"Wait  thee  and  there  abide : 
Marvels  by  wood  and  stream: 
So  dream,  child,  dream* 


IOO 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Baby,  much-travelled  one, 
When  thou  hast  seen 

Dawn,  noon  and  set  of  sun 
In  sleep-lands  green, 

Haply  thou  wilt  be  fain 

With  all  thy  might  and  main 
Homeward  to  turn  again* 
Is't  so  ?    For  home's  sweet  sake, 
Then  wake,  child,  wake ! 


101 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


IL 
AT  LAST 

WITHERED  face  with    great  brown 

eyes 

That  gazed  through  unwept  tears ; 
A  smile  on  the  mouth  in  motherwise, 
And  tender,  full  of  years. 

Stretched  on  the  sand  a  man,  not  old, 

With  features  warped  by  sin, 
And  bad,  albeit  now  death-cold, 

All  passion  dead  within. 


102 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


But  ever  the  mother  sat  above 
Her  son  and  rocked  and  sang, 

As  though  deep  stirred  by  baby-love, 
While  thus  her  cracked  voice  rang : 

"Sun-gold  thy  hair,  darling, 
Sleep,  thou  art  fair,  darling, 
Shut  down  thy  pretty  eyes ; 
Father  is  on  the  sea, 
Nobody's  by  but  me, 
Sleep,  for  the  waters  rise." 

So  sang  the  fish-wife,  bending  o'er 
Her  boy,  just  drowned  and  dead ; 

Grazed  in  her  mind,  the  days  of  yore 
Kept  revel  in  her  head. 


103 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


44  When  thou  art  old,  darling, 
Grown  brave  and  bold,  darling, 
Then  thou  shalt  have  a  wife ; 
Now  thou  art  only  mine, 
Little  and  fair  and  fine, 
Helpless  in  all  thy  life." 

The  man  lay  still,  and  the  sullen  look 

Was  ever  on  his  face ; 
His  deeds  read  dark  in  the  judgment  book ; 

His  lot  had  been  disgrace* 

But  the  mother  hugged  the  body  wet, 
Gray-haired,  and  dazed  in  brain. 

As  I  walked  away  she  was  singing  yet, 
Over  and  o'er  again : 


104 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


"'Tis  time  to  wake,  darling, 
See !  light  will  break,  darling^ 
Yonder  across  the  quay ; 
Come,  wee  one,  kiss  me  now, 
Soft  on  my  cheek  and  brow ; 
Wake  for  the  love  of  me, 

My  boy,  my  joy,— 
For  the  love  of  me, —  for  me ! 


105 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


in. 

SLIPPER  TIME 

IS  a  homely  time  of  ease  and  rest, 
When  the  day  dies  out  in  the  ruddy 

west 

And  the  lamps  are  lit  and  the  hearth  fire  leaps, 
And  the  children  go  to  their  early  sleeps ; 

When  the  dear  ones  talk  of  their  doings  small 
And  a  sense  of  peace  is  on  them  all, 
For  the  cool,  calm  night  must  stretch  between 
To-morrow's  toil  and  to-day's  flushed  scene ; 


106 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


When  memories  throng  and  the  word  of  cheer 
Is  sometimes  nigh  to  the  secret  tear, 
For  the  soul  at  lounge  will  range  full  far, 
From  the  pit  of  shame  to  the  highest  star* 

The  sound  of  music  perhaps  is  heard, 
But  the  instrument  Of  the  uttered  word 
Alike  are  sweet,  since  love  in  both 
Is  immanent  and  nothing  loath* 

So  the  home  folk  feel,  as  the  hours  slip  by, 
That  Life  is  kind  and  that  every  sigh 
Is  fellowed  close  by  some  pleasant  thing, 
That  laughter  follows  on  suffering. 


107 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


Tis  a  shade-tree  set  in  a  desert  space ; 
In  a  discord  harsh  'tis  a  note  of  grace ; 
'Tis  the  harmony  of  the  perfect  rhyme, 
This  homely,  human  slipper  time. 


108 


NATURE  PIECES 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


L 
THE  SONG  OF  THE  OPEN 


LOVE  a  level  reach  of  land, 

That  winds  have  room  to  turn  in ; 

I  love  in  open  fields  to  stand 
That  hosts  of  flowers  burn  in* 


I  love  far-stretching  paths  of  sea 

Of  turbulence  unended, 
And  salty  smells,  that  make  in  me 

A  life  that's  new  and  splendid. 


in 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


I  love  full  well  the  naked  sky, 

Wind-swept  and  hale  and  cheerful ; 

For  under  her  big  voice  can  I 
Shake  off  my  troubles  tearful. 

And  so  I  turn,  when  so  I  may, 
From  toil  and  moil  of  daytime, 

To  hurry  to  the  field  away, 
And  dare  to  have  a  play-time ! 

Again  returning,  all  my  thought 

Is  lightsomer  and  sweeter, 
And  songs  upspring,  though  all  unsought, 

In  love's  forgotten  metre* 


112 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


n. 

AUTUMN  CORN 

HE  withered  autumn  shocks  of  corn 
Are  Indian  braves,  who  stand 

a-row 
With  wind-blown  hair  and  look  forlorn, 

And  brood  upon  the  long;  ago* 
Sere  is  their  dress,  and  sere  their  mind, 
With  tribe  and  totem  far  behind* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


m. 

QUAIL  AND  THRUSH 

HE  quail's  staccato  call  from  out  the  wood 
Comes  clear  unto  mine  ear ; 
But  in  the  thrush's  note  is  mistihood, — 
Meseems  you  hear 

His  message  only  with  the  brooding  mind. 
Blent  in  with  memories,  borne  on  last  year's  wind* 


114 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


IV. 
EARLY  WINTER 

ROWN  grass,  picked  out  with  ted    of 

bushes,  tones 

Of  silver  on  the  fences ;  russet,  bronze, 
The  leaves  of  oaks  and  beeches ;  mystic  black 
Where  pools  of  water  lie,  and  edged  thereround 
The  ghostly  glamour  of  the  shallow  ice. 
Above,  a  gray-white  monody  of  sky, 
And  all  between  the  heaven  and  earth  a  mist 
Of  fine,  fast-falling  snow  that  makes  a  veil 
Wherethrough  you  see  a  mystery,  a  blend 
Of  winter  colors  to  a  perfect  whole 
That  lifts  the  heart  with  beauty,  doth  atone 
For  long-withholden  loveliness  of  June* 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


V. 
THE  FALL  OF  THE  LEAVES 

OWN  they  come  by  millions, 

Pied  and  aspen  things, 
Dancing  airy  cotillons, 

Drifting  on  wind-swept  wings* 
With  a  music  delicate  yet  clear, 
Thick  they  fall,  in  their  painted  cheer, 
Down  the  alleys  old  of  the  outworn  year. 


116 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


Gay-heart  hopes  and  visions 

Mingled  with  their  fall ; 
Memories  of  elysians 

Buoyed  them  one  and  all. 
Faded,  meek,  and  still  they  lie 
Under  foot,  and  the  f  arer-by 
Treads  them  in  nor  sees  them  die* 

Peace!  they  have  done  their  duty, 

Now  is  the  time  for  rest* 
Peace !  they  have  shown  us  beauty ; 

Now,  on  the  mother-breast 
They  repose :  their  day  was  bright, 
On  the  tremulous  trees  they  had  delight ; 
Now  comes  sleep  and  the  soothe  of  night* 


117 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


VL 
AUTUMN  SONG 

KEEN  west  wind  from  the  hills  away, 

A  rustle  of  curled  brown  leaves, 
A  blazon  of  colors, —  O  Autumn  day, 
How  Memory  subtly  weaves 
Into  your  scents  and  leaf-lit  fires 

Hopes  and  dreaming?  and  dead  desires* 


118 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


VII. 
THE  HILLS  OF  HOME 

the  mighty  levels  of  the  West, 
The  far  horizon  and  the  open  quest, — 
Back  to  the  land  of  mists  and  memories, 
Hooded  with  trees  and  topped  by  dappled  skies, 
Back  to  the  valleys,  whence  the  sun  upclomb 
The  hills  of  home ! 

Now  let  my  dead  youth  have  her  way  with  me ; 
This  is  a  dream- while ;  I  am  glad  to  be 
Penned  in  by  orchards,  set  about  with  pines, 
Lured  down  long  vistas  that  the  soul  divines; 
The  West  anon, —  boylike  to-day  I  roam 
The  hills  of  home! 


119 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


vm. 

THE  PINE  TREE 

HE  sombre  pine  is  a  Norseman  grave 
Brooding  some  saga  old, 
Calmly  chanting  a  solemn  stave, 
Scorning  the  winter's  cold. 
There's  a  Norland  soul  in  this  ancient  tree, 
And  he  ne'er  forgets  his  ancestry* 


120 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


IX. 
THE  VALLEY 

HAVE  seen  a  valley  lying 
Underneath  the  yellow  moon, 
When  the   winds   had  ceased  their 

sighing;, 
And  the  trees  were  all  a-swoon. 

And  the  sound  of  rivers  rushing 
Filled  the  night,  and  made  it  seem 

Like  to  angel-garments  brushing 
Through  wide  spaces  in  a  dream* 


121 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Then  my  soul  has  filled  with  gladness, 
Shy,  withal,  but  tender- deep; 

And  the  daytime  with  its  madness 
Seemed  afar,  and  put  to  sleep : 

For  the  riddles  past  divining 
In  the  noontide  press  of  men, 

All  grew  plainer  in  the  shining 
Of  the  sky's  fair  citizen* 

Life  turned  easy,  trust  was  stronger, 
Blossoms  sprang  from  all  my  ills, 

As  I  lingered  long  and  longer 
In  the  silence  of  the  hills : 


122 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Till  I  loved  the  valley  lying; 

Underneath  the  yellow  moon, 
Where  the  winds  had  ceased  their  sighing-, 

And  the  trees  were  all  a-swoon. 


123 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


X. 

THE  BUGLER  FROM  THE  PEAKS 

[HAT  is  this  cry  that  sudden  seems  to 

shake 
The  keen,  still  mountain  sther  wide 

awake, 

Until  the  vast  and  candid  snows  of  night 
Sound  vibrantly  on  every  doming  height  ? 

Hark,  how  it  swells !    The  very  stars  do  hear ! 
This  upper  fastness  reads  the  message  clear ; 
Her  ancient  language  Mother-nature  speaks : 
The  bull-elk  bugles  midst  the  topmost  peaks ! 


124 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


XI. 
FALL  FIELDS 

HE  sober-golden  fields  lie  soaked  in  light, 
Like  a  great  rug  with  patterns  inter- 
plight 

Of  tint  and  tone  ;  God's  ancient  place,  the  sky, 
Turns  paler  blue  above  such  tapestry* 


125 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


XII. 
NATURE'S  BOOK 


HE  tender  green  of  willows  by  a  stream 
In  springtime,  or  the  impressionable  pools 
That  duplicate  the  streaks  of  yellow  sky 
At  sunset,  give  me  food  for  many  a  dream, 
Instruct  me  more  than  cunning  of  the  schools, 
Bidding  me  kindly  live,  and  calmly  die* 


126 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


xm* 

INDIAN  SUMMER 

lECURE  in  full  fruition  doth  she  rest, 
With  mellow  lights  of  golden  afternoon 
Touching  the  placid  joy  of  brow  and 

breast ; 

Thus  to  behold  her  is  to  hark  a  tune 
Played  chantwise,  yet  firm-founded  upon  peace, 
And  glad  of  all  the  stormy  year's  release 
From  passion's  summer-world*    So  have  I  seen 
In  tranced  November  come  a  day  more  rare 
Than  any  Spring  could  muster*  ne'er  to  be 
Forgotten*    How  unfathomably  fair 
Appears  this  tranquil  creature  unto  me. 
This  woman  ample-natured,  Autumn's  queen! 


127 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


XIV. 
THE  BROKEN  PROMISE 


FTER  the  crisp  of  fall, 
There  is  beautiful  summer  weather : 
In  the  air  is  a  wondrous  Call, 
And  tied  things  strain  at  their  tether, 
And  creeping  and  flying  things 
Walk  swift  or  essay  their   wings* 

Then,  a  cold  Word  comes  in  the  night, 

Bringing  a  message  of  blight : 

And  the  creeping  things  and  the  flying 

(Ah,  the  myriad  lives  effaced, 

And  the  pity  of  trust  misplaced !) 

At  morn,  are  all  dead  or  dying* 


128 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Man,  in  his  knowledge,  hath  understood : 
But  the  humbler  folk  of  the  earth  and  air 
In  their  vast  and  vocal  brotherhood 
(They  only  petition  for  living-room) 
Do  fondly  dream  that  the  Spring  has  come, 
Till  their  very  blood  beats  frolicsome : 
But  they  misinterpret  a  Semblance  fair, 
And  a  Broken  Promise  is  their  doom* 


129 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


ON  THE  DEATH  OF  A  MOTHER 

LITTLE  maiden,  her  doll  to  her 
Was  love  and  daughter  and  comforter ; 
Her  eyes,  far  better  than  speaking  could, 
Guessed  and  gossiped  of  motherhood* 

One  day  they  put  at  her  breast  her  boy, 
And  she  knew  the  splendid  mother-joy. 
After  the  agony,  ah,  the  bliss 
Summed  in  that  sacred,  birthright  kiss! 


130 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Now,  the  old  mother  who  broods  as  all 
Folds  her  fast,  and  she  heeds  the  call ; 
Earth  to  earth,  but  she  knows  no  fear, — 
Mother  to  mother  means  dear  to  dear. 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


BEFORE  A  SHRINE 

HREE  lilies  grew  in  a  garden 
That  looked  upon  the  sea ; 
These  lilies  white,  they  had  a  right 
To  be  beloved  of  me* 
I  ask  no  man  a  pardon 
That,  all  within  my  garden, 
I  loved  those  lilies  three* 

Three  men  came  in  my  garden, 

Three  men  from  o'er  the  sea ; 
One  black  as  night,  one  gold-bedight, 

And  one  that  looked  at  me, 
And  praised  my  growing  garden : 
I  ask  my  God  for  pardon, 

I  loved  him  of  the  three* 


132 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Strange  things  come  out  of  the  sea: 

I  loved  him  well,  ah  me ! 
There  came  a  wind  that  blights  the  kind 

Of  flowers  lilies  be. 

Mary,  Mother  of  charity, 
Now  I  pray  for  pardon : 
Here,  within  my  garden, 

Sin  came  unto  me ; 

Mother,  I  call  to  thee ; 
Right  the  rue  that  came  unto 

The  lily-blooms  and  me ! 


133 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


THE  DESERTED  SCHOOL 

HERE  broods  a  pathos  of  a  time  long  past 
In  every  nook   and  every  grass- grown 

way; 

The  fences  lean  as  tired  out  at  last, 
That  once  pent  in  so  many  lads  at  play. 

The  doors  gape  open,  but  one  harks  in  vain 
For  human  voices  or  for  hurrying  feet ; 

The  rusty  weather-cock  creaks  out  that  rain 
Or  days  uncloudy  come,  or  snow  and  sleet* 


134 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


The  gables  droop,  the  windows,  staring-eyed, 
Do  seem  to  mock  one  pitying  the  place; 

A  thousand  birds  and  flowers  long  have  tried 
To  put  upon  the  scene  a  summer  face. 

But  spite  of  them,  a  silence  wide  and  deep 
Clings  round  the  corners,  sits  on  every  stone : 

It  is  a  spot  for  lingering  and  sleep, 
For  guessing  other  fortunes  than  your  own* 

I  people  all  the  playground  up  and  down 

With  rushing  forms   and  sound  of  laughter 
high; 

I  watch  the  light  of  evening  like  a  crown 
Upon  the  walls,  till  pales  the  western  sky. 


135 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


I  wonder  how  those  sturdy  limbs  have  fared 
That  since  have  wandered  far  as  east  and  west ; 

I  wonder  who  from  sorrows  have  been  spared, 
I  strive  to  read  the  hearts  that  have  been  blest ; 

And  so  my  love  would  follow,  one  by  one, 
The  life  of  each,  and  all  its  changes  know  — 

Until  the  faces  fade,  as  did  the  sun 
That  lit  the  players  in  the  long-ago. 

And  I  am  left  a  solitary,  all 

My  youth  gone  from  me,  in  a  daze  to  take 
Mid-manhood's  burden  up,  until  I  fall 

Upon  the  beaten  highway  of  Heartbreak* 


136 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


THE  WORLD  ASLEEP 

[AKING  by  night,  a  great  and  tender 

thought 
Rolled  in  upon  my  soul;  I  seemed  to 

see 

Millions  of  men  of  high  and  low  degree. 
Women  and  children  small, —  all  overwrought 
With  labor,  sin  or  weakness,  or  distraught 
Through  passion's  power, —  in  deep  tranquillity, 
With  placid  breasts  and  breath  that  issued  free, 
As  if  they  lay  at  peace,  regretting  naught. 


137 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


And  O  it  was  a  wonderful  mild  sight, 

Those  helpless  forms  of  all  God's  creatures  there, 

Worldlings  and  saints,  alike  as  dove  and  dove, 

Resuming  innocence  and  lost  delight, 

All  quieted  and  with  sleep's  magic  fair, 

One  in  the  Father's  watch  and  ward  of  love. 


133 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


THE  UNFORGOTTEN 

JHENE'ER    I    see,    hurrying:    through 

worldly  ways, 
Those  who  forget  the  friends  they  once 

have  known, 

Who  seemed  like  very  kinsmen  of  their  own 
For  fond  affection :  merged  now  in  the  haze 
That  broods  o'er  the  Eternal ;  The  old  days 
Faint  too  and  far,  like  fairy  tales  outflown 
From  rooms  of  childhood, —  I  must  inly  moan 
That  Time  such  numbing  power  upon  us  lays. 


139 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


As  if  the  Past  were  not  a  playground,  where 

The  unforgotten  mates  slip  to  and  fro 

In  games  whose  dimness  makes  them  doubly 

fair, 

The  heart's  best  comradery,  when  all  is  said ; 
As  if  less  lovely  were  the  Long  Ago, 
Or  men  could  lose  their  dearness,  being  dead* 


140 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


"WORDS,  WORDS,  WORDS" 

HE  melancholy  Prince  did  surely  err : 
Each  several  word  is  as  a  vital  sign 
That  here  some  man  has  tasted  Life's 

rich  wine, 

Been  thrall  to  ill,  been  Beauty's  worshipper, 
Or  mayhap  felt  the  immemorial  stir 
Of  passion*    Words  are  symbols  that  divine 
The  more  than  mortal  that  is  subtly  thine ; 
They  stand  for  all  the  dreams  that  ever  were. 
They  have  their  regal  fortunes,  and  their  falls 
Like  Lucifer  from  heaven ;  tragic  days 
Are  theirs,  and  love's  soft  interludes 
Of  music  lyric-sweet  along  the  ways; 
At  whiles,  some  nether  hell  their  sound  recalls ; 
Yet  o'er  supernal  heights  their  meaning  broods. 


141 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


A  FORECAST 

HROUGH  all  the  wood  the  rain  drops 

ceaselessly 
And  every  whiff  of  air  shakes  down  on 

me 

Dank  hints  of  storm,  dark  auguries  of  skies 
Unchanged  and  cheerless :  so,  in  hopeless  wise 
I  trudge,  until  a  gleam  of  light  ahead 
Reveals  the  open,  makes  my  soul  less  dead. 
Into  the  day  I  step, —  thou  foolish  one, 
The  rain  has  long  been  o'er,  behold  the  sun ! 
The  forest  did  but  lie,  the  storm  is  done. 


142 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Love,  it  may  be  that  in  some  sunlit  land 
Beyond  the  present  troubling,  now  you  stand 
And  smile  most  tenderly,  because  I  dream 
The  rain  is  falling;  and,  lead-hearted,  deem 
No  hope  can  pierce  the  limitless  gray  shore : 
Maybe,  beyond  'tis  shining  evermore, 
And  you  await  me  with  the  old-time  grace, 
The  same  dear  eyes,  the  same  divine  dear  face, 
One  with  the  sun  in  making  glad  the  place* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


SOUND  IN  SILENCE 

[ALKING  when  all  the  ways  seemed 

wondrous  still, 

I  suddenly  was  ware  it  was  not  so : 
The  silence  was  a  web  of  sound,  below, 
Above,  that  did  the  earth  and  heavens  fill. 
The  wood-hid  thrush,  the  field-sparrow's  sliding 

trill, 

The  dominant  insistence  of  the  crow, 
The  shrill  of  crickets  and  the  voiceful  flow 
Where  curve  the  river  currents  down  the  hill, 
The  wind  amidst  the  pines,  the  far-off  calls 
Of  boys  at  play,  the  hayers  at  their  task 
With  creaking  carts,  the  lowing  cows  —  they  all 
Were  present,  like  the  face  behind  the  mask* 
The  silence  swarmed  with  noises,  nay,  was  blent 
With  many  musics,  for  my  solacement. 


144 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


PENELOPE'S  LOVER 

READ  how  once  Ulysses,  far  from  home, 
Daunting  all  dangers  o'er  the  wine-dark 

sea, 

Came  to  the  island  where  the  Sirens  be 
Who  waft  sweet  song  athwart  the  ocean's  foam* 
And  there,  beneath  the  blue  sky's  ample  dome, 
For  fear  those  luring  strains  they  might  not  flee, 
His  comrades  bound  him  to  the  mast,  that  he 
Might  'scape  the  enchantment  fierce,  nor   isle- 
ward  roam* 

And  as  I  read,  I  wish  the  story  ran, 
That  in  the  hero's  breast  love  beat  so  strong 
No  Siren's  voice,  no  sound  of  soothing  song, 
Could  tempt  him,  on  his  ship,  to  change  his  plan, 
And  slack  the  oar  that  should,  by  sun  or  star, 
Dip  towards  Penelope  and  Ithaca* 


145 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


WALL  STREET 

)TRAIT  river,  with  its  hoarse  and  fever 
ous  flood 
Of  money-makers;  on  that  turbulent 

tide 

Hourly  men  sink,  or  bring  their  argosies 
To  unhoped  havens.    On  that  tiny  stage 
The  drama  of  the  dollar  is  played  out 
In  tragic  throes  that  shake  the  land ;  there  gold 
Is  God,  the  devotees  are  hollow-eyed. 

A  touch  brings  London ;  at  a  mystic  word 
The  tropics  tremble ;  while  an  upraised  hand 
Withers  broad  grain-fields  lovely  in  the  sun 
A  thousand  leagues  away* 


146 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Meantime,  the  spire 
Of  Trinity,  as  set  in  satire  there, 
Points  with  insistent  finger  to  the  skies 
Placid  above  this  lust  of  loss-and-gain, 
And  underneath,  the  aisles  of  peace  and  prayer 
Await  the  worshippers  who  still  would  place 
Christ  above  Mammon,  love  before  the  world. 


147 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


PEACE  OUT  OF  PAIN 

S  from  some  f ruit,  bitter  in  the  beginning, 
A  rare,  sweet  draught  is  pressed,  finds 

strange  release; 
So,  out  of  turmoil,  pain  and  sorry  sinning, 
All  mystically  issues  peace* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


DON'T  DREAM,  BUT  DO! 


IS  an  easy  thing,  if  you  want  to  know 
How  sweet  the  summer  is,  just  to  go 
Down  in  the  fields,  or  deep  in  the  wood, 
Or  fain  toward  the  swash  of  the  sea. 
For  they  all  will  teach  you  how  heavenly  good 

Such  wholesome  places  be* 
If  you  seek  the  soul's  warm  summer,  too, 
Don't  dream,  but  do ! 


149 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


Don't  sit  at  home  with  your  brain-born  book 
And  balance  questions  and  pry  and  look 
Askance  at  this,  or  wonder  how 

That  squares  with  some  ancient  doubt ; 
But  get  in  touch  with  the  throbbing  Now, 

And  let  your  heart  go  out 
To  your  fellow-men  who  are  spent  and  blue. 
Don't  dream,  but  do ! 

Work  in  the  world  for  the  folk  thereof ; 
With  every  deed  that  is  done  in  love 
Some  criss-cross  matter  is  smoothed  for  aye ; 

The  spirit  sees  straight  and  clear ; 
And  heaven  draws  close  that  was  far  away, 

As  you  whistle  off  each  fear* 
Work,  for  the  days  are  fleet  and  few. 
Don't  dream,  but  do ! 


150 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


You  may  worry  over  God's  grinding  Laws, 
You  may  probe  and  probe  for  the  great  First 

Cause; 
But  an  hour  of  life  with  an  honest  thrill 

Of  self-forgetting  joy 
Will  ease  your  mind  of  its  moody  ill 

And  make  you  blithe  as  a  boy, 
The  plan  is  simple;  then  see  it  through: 
Don't  dream,  but  do ! 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


A  RYME  FOR  CHRISTMAS 

RYME  for  Christmas,  ye  good  folk  all, 
A  song  for  the  time  o*  year 
Make  merry  music  in  bower  and  hall, 
With  hey  for  a  day  of  cheer ! 

But  season  the  jest  with  a  kindly  deed, 

And  let  love  deepen  the  song. 
In  the  outer  ways  there  are  hearts  that  bleed 

And  hands  that  labor  long* 


152 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


As  the  yule-log  but ns  and  the  gifts  go  found, 

As  the  indoor  romps  are  high, 
Oh,  gentles,  hark  to  the  doleful  sound 

Of  the  homeless  'neath  the  sky ! 

For  how  shall  ye  keep  the  Christmas-tide, 

Or  cherish  its  Founder's  name, 
Unless  that  your  hearts  be  open  wide 

To  His  people's  want  and  shame? 


153 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


PAIN 

>RIM-FACED  fellow,  silent  guest 
At  Life's  feast,  what  will'st  with 

me? 

With  a  great  fear  unexpr est 
At  my  heart,  I  follow  thee ; 
Leave  the  lights,  the  laughter  gay, 
Heavy-hearted  go  away. 

At  the  last,  I  thank  thee,  friend: 
I  am  weaned  from  specious  show 
Of  delight, —  the  banquet-end 
Meant  but  surfeit :  now  I  know 
Real  from  seeming,  and  am  trussed 
For  the  May-be  and  the  Must. 


154 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


CITY  STREETS 

SAW  a  sad  sight  yesterday* 

A  girl,  whose  look  was  pale 
And  sullen-set,  was  led  away 
To  serve  her  term  in  jail ; 

And  as  she  walked,  betwixt  two  men 

Who  vigilantly  stepped, 
Her  better  self  came  back, —  and  then, 

Dear  angels,  how  she  wept ! 


155 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


And  yet,  at  eve  I  saw  a  sight 

Sadder  an  hundred  fold : 
Within  a  place  of  glaring  light 

A  woman,  flushed  and  bold, 

Lifted  a  glass  of  feigned  cheer, 
And  as  the  drink  she  quaffed 

She  breathed  a  curse  one  would  not  hear, 
And  looked  to  heaven  —  and  laughed! 


156 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


MEMORIALS 

>E  the  shining  river's  brim, 
By  vital  green  of  grasses  spanned 
And  circled  by  the  hills,  that  rim 

The  blue  horizon's  wonder-land, 

The  ruins  of  a  dwelling  rise 

Pathetic  to  the  evening  skies* 

Mounds,  where  a  hearth  fire  once  was  bright ; 

And  tumbled  rails  that  girdled  in 

A  garden  with  its  blooms  alight 

And  waving  growths,  their  next-of-kint 

Above,  a  well  sweep  rising  sheer 

Out  of  the  wreck  of  many  a  year. 


157 


MESSAGE   AND  MELODY 


An  eloquence  of  what  is  past 
Broods  like  a  ghost  around  the  place ; 
The  dreams  that  brick  and  stone  outlast 
Sit  peering:  in  each  other's  face; 
Lo,  every  corner  stone  is  ripe 
With  phantoms  of  forgotten  life, 

Here  love  was  potent,  work  and  play 
Lifted  twin  voices  clear  and  strong ; 
There  is  no  other  sound  to-day 
Save  music  of  the  river's  song : 
Across  the  crumbled  years  they  call, 
The  well-sweep  and  the  ruined  wall* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


THE  HOMING  BIRD 

HE  soul  is  like  a  homing:  bird  that's  sure 
To  wing  its  way  to  the  beloved  place ; 
Above  the  sea  or  land,  through  air  more 

pure 
Than  mortal  breathes,  it  cleaves  the  tracts  of 

space, 

Steered  by  a  yearning  wonderful,  elate 
To  reach  the  native  loft,  the  lonesome  mate* 


159 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


THEN 

OU  cannot  understand,  my  little  one, 
Why  tears  of  tenderness  make  blind  my 

eyes, 

In  looking  on  your  face  that,  like  the  sun, 
Sheds  gladness,  like  a  morn  of  sweet  sunrise* 

Perplext,  you  touch  me  with  a  wondering  hand ; 
Thank  God,  'tis  so, —  for  when   long  years  are 

fled,— 

Then  will  you  know,  remember,  understand, — 
Then,  in  the  dream-like  years  when  I  am  dead* 


1 60 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


CREED  AND  DEED 

HE  Rose,  who   reigns    the    queen  of 

flowers, 

Quoth  to  the  Violet, 
44  One  thing,  come  dear,  come  wof  «1  hours, 

I  never  can  forget.*' 
44 1  prithee,  make  thy  wisdom  ours/' 
Quoth  modest  Violet* 

44  There's  naught  that's  like  a  clear-cut  creed," 

The  regal  Rose  replied ; 
44  So  pray  your  prayer,  and  bid  your  bead, 

And  keep  the  law  beside*" 
44  A  goodly  deed's  a  goodly  deed," 

The  modest  Violet  sighed* 


161 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


THE  UNSPOKEN 

UR  speech  is  but  a  surface  foam ;  below 
Broods  the  unspoken,  and  her  caves  are 

rife 
With  turbulent    powers  and    passions,    to  and 

fro- 
The  veiled  vitalities  of  under  life* 

We  meet  and  part,  we  say  and  straight  unsay, 
Nor  tell  our  mid-sea  longings  to  our  mates; 

But  all  the  while,  deep  down  and  put  away, 
The  unsaid  sways  our  fortunes  and  our  fates* 


162 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


PRAYER  TIDES 

ZMatins 

HE  opal  tints  of  dawn  have  come, 
The  winds  upspring  all  frolicsome  ; 
Ah,  how  may  living  lips  be  dumb  ? 
So,  Lord,  this  orison  to  Thee  ! 


The  heat  and  burden  of  the  day 
Beats  down,  the  dews  have  slipt  away  ; 
There  is  no  heart  that  seems  to  pray  ; 
Let  mine  as  one  more  faithful  be. 


163 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


Vespers 

The  nun-like  gray  of  evening-tide 
Makes  worshipful  the  heavens  wide ; 
Anon  comes  night,  the  stilly-eyed ; 

The  world's  a-pause  and  prays  with  me* 


164 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


SANCTUARY 

(Written  for  the  Tenth  Anniversary  of  the  Library  at 
Norfolk,  Connecticut) 


F  old  the  hunted  wretch,  if  only  he 
Might  tread  the  sacred  steps  and  gain 

the  shrine, 
Was  safe  from  hurt ;  the  most  high  Gods  would 

be 
His  bulwark,  by  their  presences  divine* 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Gasping,  he  threw  himself  against  their  knees 
And  felt  the  grace  of  their  unshaken  calm : 
A  seaman  caught  from  Life's  tumultuous  seas, 
A  wounded  body  healed  by  magic  balm* 

#=*#*## 

So,  from  the  baffling  storms,  from  hostile  spears, 
From  strife  and  struggle  that  enmesh  our  day, 
Behold  the  Sanctuary  that  the  years 
Make  but  more  precious,  and  shall  make  alway. 

A  place  of  peace,  an  altar  where  the  mind 
Finds  strength  in  prayer,  a  home  and  haven  dear 
Of  souls,  a  senate-house  of  mortal  kind 
Become  immortal  —  lo,  the  Gods  are  here ! 


1 66 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


REVERY 

Evening 

IM  grows  the  wood;  the  amber  evening 

tints 

Merge  into  opal  skies  and  stars  just  seen ; 
Down  vistas  gloomed  and  winding   there   are 

hints 
Of  elves  and  gnomes  along  the  mosses  green 

cMidnigU 

A  holy  song  the  thrush  has  distant-sung ; 

The  tree-tops  murmur  like  some  dreaming  sea ; 
Hark !  far  away  a  silvern  bell  has  rung 

Twelve  strokes,  slow  tolled,  that  faint  and  fade 
from  me« 


167 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


cMorning 

A  shaft  of  gold  upon  my  upturned  face 
As  fleeting  and  as  shy  as  any  fawn ; 

Sweet  odors,  stirring  winds  and  forms  of  grace ; 
Now  tell  me,  is  this  heaven,  or  is  it  dawn  ? 


168 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


THE  YOUNG  MAN'S  PRAYER 

[HEN  full  of  years,  O  God !  and  reckoned 

sage, 

Companioned  by  the  memories  that  en 
shrine 

The  Past :  when  Life  has  yellowed  o'er  the  page 
Of  Youth,  and,  musing,  I  must  needs  repine 
The  loss  of  friends,  that  bitter  sign  of  age, 
White  hairs,  the  silver  sign : 

Oh,  may  the  Long  Ago  loom  soft  and  fair, 
Recalling,  not  the  evil  and  the  stress, 
But  tranquil  hours,  and  gentle  faces  there, 
Flashes  of  joy,  and  sacred  tenderness ; 
A  sense  of  peace  along  the  evening  airt — 
Visions  that  charm  and  bless ! 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


TO  A  CHILD  CRYING 

JHOU  pretty  one,  why  dost  thou  wail  and 

plain 

So  piteously  ?    Thou  hast  but  lived  a  day 
And  surely  thou  and  sorrow  are  not  grown 
To  fellowship, —  and  yet,  poor,  tiny  child, 
Listening  I  seem  to  catch  within  thy  cry 
A  bitter  protest  f gainst  a  host  of  wrongs ; 
Methinks  thou  weepest,  not  for  thy  wee  self, 
But  for  mankind,  untutored  spokesman  of 
The  universal  ill ;  yea,  presdently 
Dost,  though  a  babe,  foretell  to  shallow  souls 
The  depths,  the  tear-stained  dramas  of  a  world* 


170 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


SYMBOLS 

SIMPLE,    tintless    flower  is    the    lily 

white ; 
But  it  symbols  what  is  sweet  and  pure 

and  right, 

And  it  thrills  to  my  very  soul  with  love  and 
light. 

And  a  red  bush,  nothing  more,  is  the  Judas-tree ; 
But  whenever  it  flaunts  its  sanguine  blooms,  to 

me 
Comes    a    vision    of    Christ,    and    a    dread    of 

treachery* 


171 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


MEMORIES 

S  his  yarn  a  seaman  spins 
With  a  twinkle  in  his  eye, 
Weaving  wonders  from  the  past 

While  his  ship  heaves  o'er  the  brine ; 

So  the  memories  that  are  mine 

Tell  their  tale  beside  the  mast 

Of  Life's  bark,  that  bellies  by 

O'er  Time's  sea  of  songs  and  sins* 


172 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


THE  REFORMER 

MAN  once  stood  before  a  frowning  wall 
Whereon  was  writ  a  lie  since  ancient 

days, 

And  threw  his  heart's  blood  by  the  cupful  straight 
Against  the  legend,  so  to  wipe  it  out, 
Tapping  his  veins  of  all  their  purple  yield 
In  his  desire*    At  last  he  grew  so  weak 
That,  tottering-limbed,  he  heaved  glazed  eyes  to 

heaven, 
Sighed  like  a  weary  child,  smiled  once,  and  fell. 


173 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


And  when  his  dust  was  mingled  with  the  mould 

That  giveth  birth  to  f lowers,  the  people  woke 

One  morn,  and  looked  upon  the  wall,  to  see 

A  clean  erasure  of  the  globing  words 

Had  grieved  the  man  so,  he  that  calmly  slept, 

Oblivious  alike  of  loves  and  lies 

That  make  our  human  story* 

Then  there  ran 

A  whisper,  soon  a  cry,  across  the  land : 
44  God  urged  him  to  the  act,  and  he  was  glad 
To  spill  his  blood  and  make  us  clearer-eyed." 
Whereat  the  very  folk  who  carelessly 
Passed  by  that  day  he  drained  his  throbbing 

strength 

And  paled  his  flesh,  upreared  a  cenotaph 
And  deified  his  name  to  after-times* 


174 


MESSAGE  AND   MELODY 


HYMN  FOR  A  TOWN 

(Sang  at  the  250th  Anniversary  of  the  founding  of 
Middletown,  Conn.) 

[HERE  the  red  man  roved  of  yore 

By  a  stately  water- lane, 
Lo,  was  sown  a  seed  that  bore 
Hundred-fold  of  goodly  grain ; 
Which  the  hardy  pioneers 
Harvested  with  blood  and  tears* 


175 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Homely  times  were  those,  and  grim, 
By  the  green-rimmed  river-side ; 

Oft  with  battle  smoke  were  dim, 
Where  the  stanch  forefathers  died ; 

But,  with  sounds  of  prayer  and  praise, 

Came  white  peace  and  sweeter  days* 

Ships  were  built  of  sturdy  frame, 
And  the  marts  with  trade  were  rife ; 

Schools  uprose  in  wisdom's  name, 
Churches  hymned  the  higher  life ; 

So  the  holdfast  English  race 

Set  God's  seal  upon  the  place. 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


"We  have  reaped  what  they  have  sown. 

Honored,  down  the  streets  we  tread, 
Carven  clear  in  changeless  stone, 

Be  the  memories  of  the  dead ; 
For  through  them  our  town  doth  bide 
Beautiful  her  stream  beside. 

Not  to  them  alone,  to  Thee, 
God  of  elder  years  and  ours, 

Be  the  laud,  for  Thou  canst  see 
In  the  root  the  pledge  of  flowers ; 

Though  man's  ways  be  passing  strange, 

Yet  Thy  counsels  do  not  change. 


177 


MESSAGE   AND   MELODY 


Qty  of  out  love  and  life, 
River-town  of  spreading  trees, 

Peaceful,  after  early  strife, 
Prospered  by  the  centuries, 

Thou  forever  shalt  endure, 

If  thy  faith  be  firm  and  pure* 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


OUR  CITY  OF  AERIAL  LIGHT 

(The  Buffalo  Fair) 

loomed,  in  summer's  morning:  hours, 
A  clustered  Orient  of  towers ; 
And  in  the  splendid  blaze  of  noon 
I  gloried  in  its  stately  boon 
Of  colors,  wandered  in  a  trance 
Past  many  a  vision  of  romance* 

But  when  the  dark  was  come,  behold ! 

It  grew  a  magic  burg  of  gold, 
With  soul  released,  above  the  night, 

Our  city  of  aerial  light ! 


179 


MESSAGE   AND  MELODY 


While  marble-gir  died  waters  gleamed 
In  mystic  hues  and  tints  undreamed, 

A  thousand  thousand  points  of  fire 
Blent  in  one  heavenward,  high  desire. 

O  land  we  love,  take  heart  of  grace, 
For  thou  hast  wrought  this  wonder-place ! 

O  land  of  lands,  be  thine  the  same 
Pure  aspiration  of  the  flame! 


1 80 


PLAY-ROOM  POEMS 


MESSAGE   AND  MELODY 


I 

SNOW  AND  RAIN 

]ELL  me  (quoth  Lilian)  what  is  the  snow  ? 
*  Up  in  the  very  highest  heaven 
Grcle  the  great  throne  angels  seven, 
Nearest  to  God,  you  know* 
While,  inwoven  their  garments  through, 
Are  pearls,  pure  gems  of  a  saintly  hue ; 
And,  as  the  wide  wings  beat  the  airf 

Away  up  there, 

They  shake  white  pearls  on  the  earth  below ; 
And  that  is  the  snow/' 


183 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


Tell  me  (quoth  Lilian)  what  is  the  rain? 
"Up  in  the  very  highest  heaven 
Circle  the  great  throne  angels  seven, 

Nearest  to  God,  again. 
While,  inwoven  their  garments  through, 
Glisten  great  diamonds  glad  of  hue, 
And,  as  the  wide  wings  rise  and  fall, 

They  scatter  them  all 
Earthward,  to  catch  on  the  way  a  stain; 
And  that  is  the  rain." 


184 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


n. 

THE  WIND-BROOM 

wind-broom    sweeps    so    wondrous 
clean 

That  when  you  hear  it  up  on  high 
Go  swishing  by,  go  swishing  by, 
You  may  be  sure  the  sky-folk  mean 
To  make  their  homes  all  fair  to  see, 
Garnished,  and  gay  as  gay  can  be 
Of  nights,  for  starry  company* 


185 


MESSAGE  AND  MELODY 


m. 

STAR  SHIPS 

HE  stars  are  ships  on  a  blue,  cold  sea, 

Gold  ships,  that  sail  and  sail ; 
They  keep  their  course  right  steadily, 
Unvexed  by  any  gale* 

For  God  their  helmsman  is,  I  trow ; 

In  sea-craft  of  the  air 
So  skilled,  that  all  the  winds  that  blow 

Seem  favoring  and  fair* 


1 86 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 

Fine  :  25  cents  on  first  day  overdue 

•  50  cents  on  fourth  day  overdue 
One  dollar  on  seventh  day  overdue, 


NOV  3   1947 


LD  21-100m-12,'46(A2012sl6)4120 


urner.  ,R 


^»v^<y'Y  •- 

and  melody 


953 

B974 


OCT  261916 


-7-^ 


APR  21  t:r 


31  l^j) 
;•?  ^      22 


FE3  '  f.1.  1P?7 


305222 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


